The Old Hope
by Novus
Summary: The Old Hope of Arda is come at last.
1. Default Chapter

The Old Hope by Novus  
(Novussibyl@aol.com)  
  
Rating: PG  
Summary: The Old Hope of Arda is come at last. Based primarily upon  
the Silmarillion and Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth.  
Type: Drama/General  
Author's Note: A Middle-earth Christmas story.  
  
That's all. Push the button, Frank.  
  
Disclaimer: All characters and places mentioned herein, except Elelome,  
are the creation of J.R.R. Tolkien and used with the utmost respect.  
  
****  
  
When dusk fell over the land, Elrond climbed the long, winding stairs  
of the white tower of Ingwë, as he had for years beyond count. And, as  
ever, he was not alone. Few came to gaze eastward into Middle-earth, to  
the cradlelands of the Elf-folk, but always a few.   
  
Truth be told, there was little to be seen. No Elves lingered still in  
Middle-earth, unless one believed the grim whispers of wandering fëar  
in the dark lands of the utter east. The Dwarves had faded away,   
becoming one with the stone they so loved, and the Hobbits were a  
dying folk, lingering only in the deepest woods of the twilight isles.  
  
And Men...  
  
Elrond sighed. Men had fallen far and hard since he had departed the  
shores of Middle-earth. The Kingdom, built on such shining foundations  
by his son, had collapsed all too soon. Corrupted, divided, broken and  
finally washed away by the wrath of Ilúvatar. Nothing, not even a   
single stone, remained of its glory. The kingdoms of Men were petty  
things, brutal and short-lived, much like Men themselves.  
  
He forced himself not to dwell on such matters. The fate of Men was no  
longer his concern. There were brighter things to think about.  
  
Celebrian, his beloved, was ever at his side, and tonight was no   
exception. Her passing from Middle-earth had been one of grief, but   
time had eased those pains and now she joined her husband in looking   
back at the land of their birth.  
  
On this night, to Elrond's surprise, a large host had assembled. The  
great marble flet was nearly full, each of the tribes of Elves well  
represented: Noldor, Vanyar, Teleri, and even a few Dark Elves -   
Thranduil's son, for one.  
  
The moon rose over the Sea and all fell silent for a moment, paying  
honor to the white pearl of the heavens and to the one who guided it  
upon its way.  
  
Then Elrond frowned and looked more closely at the stars. A murmur  
began to run through the crowd, telling him his sight was not somehow  
broken.  
  
The stars were dim.  
  
"What can this mean?" a voice cried out. It was Elelome, one of the  
younger maidens of the House of Fëanor and also distantly akin  
to him - or more precisely his son Elrohir - by ties of marriage.   
"Lord Elrond, what do you make of this wonder?" she asked, spotting   
him in the throng. He was the eldest of them all, Elrond realized with  
some amusement. That was a rare thing here in the Undying Lands.  
  
He looked up at the faded stars for a long moment, seeking to unravel  
the mystery. But no foresight came upon him, only a great feeling of  
anticipation. Something was coming.  
  
"I cannot say," he finally told the young Noldo, smiling sadly, both   
for his failure to understand and for ancient grief over another   
dark-haired Elf much nearer to his heart.  
  
"It as if something is sapping the very radiance of the heavens,"  
Legolas murmured, perhaps remembering another darkness long-ago. But no  
- Sauron was well and truly gone, and his master utterly lacked the  
might to do such a thing even in his greatest glory.  
  
And, deep in his heart, Elrond was comforted by this. "Sapped, perhaps,  
or perhaps they give their light to some greater need," he suggested.  
"I cannot see which is the right. We must seek wiser minds, or clearer  
eyes, I think."  
  
"There are few wiser than Lord Elrond, and few with keener sight."  
  
All turned.  
  
"Olórin!" Elrond exclaimed with a smile. It had been many months since  
he had seen his old friend. "One who is wiser and keener than I. Can  
you tell us anything of this?" he asked, raising one hand to the starry  
sky.  
  
The Maiar nodded slowly. "I could... but I will say only this. Watch.  
Watch and wait. Soon you will see."  
  
Elrond stared at Olórin for a moment, puzzled by the cryptic answer.  
Why the mystery?  
  
"How soon?" Legolas asked.   
  
"Not this night, I think," Elrond guessed, some trickle of foresight  
finally entering his mind. Olórin nodded, confirming it. "How long,  
then?" Elrond asked.  
  
The ancient Maiar bowed his head for a moment, lost in thought. Then  
he looked upon the assembled Elves and smiled. "Four enquier, I should  
think."  
  
Four enquier... nearly a month as reckoned by the moon. A few of the  
younger Elves, Elelome chief among them, murmured their disappointment.  
Elrond glanced at them, amused by their rare display of impatience.   
They would leave such things behind after two or three more millenia,   
poor children...  
  
Elrond carefully masked his own impatience.  
  
"So be it."   
  
Olórin clasped his shoulder for a moment. "The long defeat is nearly  
at an end," he whispered, then turned and swiftly vanished down the  
staircase.  
  
Elrond stared, struck speechless for the first time in countless years.  
The long defeat at an end? The words had sent a jolt down his spine.  
What could Olórin possibly have meant? He turned back to the faded  
stars, wishing he could decipher their portent.  
  
But they had no answers for them. After a moment, Elrond gave up and  
decided to trust Olórin, always a wise course.  
  
He and Celebrian lingered a while longer, but as the moon began to  
sink down into the West, they slowly began the journey back to their  
home in the city below. 


	2. Part Two

****  
  
The next days passed swiftly. The news of the dwindling stars spread  
throughout Aman, carried by birds and in the water and in stranger,  
swifter ways. The fair city of Tirion-on-Túna was filled with visitors  
from all corners of the Undying Lands, including many Teleri from   
Alqualondë and a whole company of Wood Elves who sailed forth from  
Eressëa.   
  
There were many happy reunions of Elves in those days, for few of  
the Firstborn often left their homes, and although a century was little  
time to them, it was still long enough to make meetings joyous after  
such a space.  
  
So it was with Elrond and Celebrian, and their dear kin Galadriel and  
Celeborn, who had long ago removed to dwell in the garden of Melian   
in the center of the land. It had been many years since they had been  
together, and they spent many hours speaking of the things they had  
seen and done since then, but more speculating about the omen of the  
stars. None among them, not even Galadriel, could say what it meant.  
  
Those who might know, the Maiar who dwelt among the Elves, kept their  
own counsel, repeating only what Olórin had told Elrond. "Watch and  
wait" were perhaps the words most spoken in those weeks, to the point  
where it became a joke among the few children of the city.  
  
Soon enough, then, the day came. On that night, it seemed that all the  
people of Tirion-on-Túna, and nearly as many visitors, made their way  
to Ingwë's great tower. More were now present than had ever been, even  
on the dawn of the Downfall of Barad-Dûr, all those long years ago.  
  
Not just Elves, either. Hundreds of Maiar, followers of each of the  
great Valar. Olórin, Elrond noticed, had been joined by his brothers  
in the Istari - Aiwendil, Morinehtar and Rómestámo. Even the Eagles  
had gathered, all of them, leaving their mountain eyries and gathering  
upon the steep slopes of Taniquetil. Eonwë was there as well, and   
Melian, and many, many others.  
  
Elrond and Celebrian and their party, which numbered many once   
accounted Wise in the Third Age, ascended the stairs and reached the   
flet ere the sun set. Ingwë was there already, to the surprise of no   
one, and his wife and children, and many others of that house. There   
also, to Elrond's great surprise, were three of the sons of Fëanor, who  
seldom came to the city of the Vanyar even so long after their release  
from the Halls of Waiting.   
  
But soon other things occupied his attention, and he had no time to  
wonder at it.  
  
There was a sound like the ringing of bells in the air and all the   
Elves turned to the great arch over the last step. As one, they sank   
to their knees when they saw who stood there.  
  
Two beings, a man and a woman, taller and fairer than any Elf. The man  
looked eastward with eyes as bright as the noon sun, and the woman,  
clad in soft grey robes, stood silent at as his side. They walked  
through the sundered crowd and came to a stop at the very edge of the  
flet, where the view of the East was clearest.   
  
Before any of the Elves could speak, though, even to greet their  
guardians and lords, two more rose up the steps. Again, a man (stern  
faced and wearing shining armor under his robes) and a woman   
(resplendent in a glittering cloak of many colors that she herself had  
woven).   
  
Next was a tall titan of a man, ruddy-faced, his wild mane of golden  
hair held back by a mithril circlet. With him was his lady, little   
less tall, but lithesome and graceful. They joined their fellows at   
the railing, again without saying a word. All were moving as if under   
a spell, or listening to words no others could hear.  
  
The next arrival was a woman, alone. Elrond felt his confusion growing.  
Nienna's usual sorrowful garb, blacks and greys and pale whites, had   
been cast aside in favor of a cloak of a deep violet hue. A gold veil  
covered her face.  
  
Then came Oromë, horn in hand, and fair Vána, her dress the color of  
pale emeralds like those set in her silver necklace. With them were   
Aulë and his spouse, Yavanna, who was clad in a green robe, dark as  
Vána's was pale. The four stood together, leaving little space left.  
  
Little was needed. Far below, there was a rumble from the waters, and  
all could sense the majesty of Ulmo stirring in the deeps.  
  
And finally, as the moon was reaching its peak, the last and greatest  
came. Eagles, racing east from the cloudpiercing summits of Taniquetil,  
raised their voices in song to herald the coming of Manwë and Varda his  
lady.   
  
When Elrond and the others finally rose from their knees, they waited  
for word from the assembled Valar. Never before - not since the great  
council before the Revolt of the Noldor - had all fourteen of the  
Valar come together. And never before, not in all the ages of the   
world, had they come here, to the flet that looked east over the Sea.  
  
What could it mean?  
  
The stillness in the air grew even deeper as the minutes wore on, and  
none of the Valar said a word - at least aloud. Who could say what  
private speech passed between their minds? All looked out across  
the Sea, waiting, waiting under the stars they could barely see.  
  
It was Círdan who saw it first. The bearded Elf suddenly let out a cry  
and pointed up at the heavens. A single star shone, bright and clear,  
amidst the darkness of the Void. All bowed their heads in honor of  
bright Eärendil, their morning and evening star, but now the only true  
light in the heavens.  
  
A murmur ran through the crowd. "Eärendil! Eärendil! What can it mean?"  
many voices asked.  
  
At last, Manwë stirred but did not speak. Instead, he rose his arms in  
the air, as the Eagles swooped down, in such numbers as to darken the  
sky, and a great noise issued forth from the very earth - as if it was  
releasing a sigh long held. Then there was a wonder.  
  
From all around, angelic voices burst into song. Elrond turned this  
way and that, but the singers were not to be seen. After a moment, he   
gasped in realization. Ainur from the Halls of Ilúvatar! He and many  
others wept - none had imagined this night would be so glorious. Not  
since before the beginning of time had those holy ones who had not  
come forth into Arda sung to those who had.  
  
Then the hidden chorus reached a crescendo, a long pure note that   
warmed the cool night air and all was silent again. But only for a   
moment. The great crowd strained their ears in anticipation, none  
daring to speak or barely even to breathe.  
  
And then... faintly, far off... the wailing of a newborn babe.  
  
****  
  
"What then was this hope, if you know?" Finrod asked.  
  
"They say," answered Andreth: "they say that the One will himself enter  
into Arda, and heal Men and all the Marring from the beginning to the  
end. This they say also, or they feign, is a rumour that has come down  
through years uncounted, even from the days of our undoing."  
  
Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth  
(HoME X: Morgoth's Ring)  
  
**** 


End file.
